7 Mobile Security Tips to Keep Your Phone Safe

Since mobile devices are responsible for 70% of all fraud transactions, here are seven simple Mobile Security Tips you can keep your phone safe from hackers and other crooks.

A cell phone is now part of our everyday routine. According to the results of a study conducted by reviews.org, 75.4 percent of respondents believe they are addicted to their phones. About two-thirds of respondents reported checking their phones up to 160 times each day. This site will never criticize your mobile addiction, but it will teach you Mobile Security Tips against cyber-terrorists.

You’ve arrived at the right spot if you’re asking “how to stop hackers from my phone” or anything similar. The following are seven easy-to-follow Mobile Security Tips that can help you keep your phone safe from hackers and other threats.

7 Mobile Security Tips to Protect You from Hackers:

1) Leave Tracking and Remote Locking Enabled

A multi-digit passcode or face/fingerprint recognition or a complex pattern is assumed at this point. If you don’t have these features enabled, you should. This is especially useful if you misplace your phone or if a thief has taken possession of it. However, if you believe that your screen lock would prevent criminals from using your phone, you are unaware of the techniques hackers might use to bypass the phone’s first security system. In fact, there are ways to break even the fingerprint lock and face recognition security systems!

The ability to lock your smartphone remotely becomes critical in this situation. Protecting your phone from hackers or anybody else who shouldn’t have access to it is the first step. It’s a good thing that nearly all phone service providers offer Find My Device and remote lock features. You only need to install the applications (if they aren’t already installed on your smartphone) and register your device to get started.

Google Find My Device is available for Android phones, and Find My iPhone is available for Apple phones. Simply choose the appropriate device type from the list below, and then follow these easy instructions to get started:

• In the case of iPhones: Go to Settings > Accounts and Passwords > iCloud > Activate Find My iPhone, enable Offline Finding, and provide the most recent location.
• As for Android phones, it’s as simple as linking your Gmail account via the Google Find My Device app. This functionality is accessible from all Android phone makers. You may also utilize Samsung’s Find My Mobile feature on Samsung phones.

You may also lock your phone remotely using these applications. Your whole phone memory can be remotely erased if you’re completely sure your phone is in the wrong hands. If you’re going to erase your phone, make sure you have frequent backups of your data.

2) Download And Install Security Software for Your Mobile Device

Antivirus and anti-malware software isn’t only for PCs anymore. To secure your phone from hackers, you should also use them on your mobile phone. There are several forms of spyware that may be downloaded into any device when you visit the web (such as viruses, trojan horses, worms, and more). Viruses can potentially enter your smartphone via email attachments or malicious programs.

Malware detection and removal software can also notify you when you visit a dangerous website or download an infected program. Without your knowledge, some spyware is downloaded to your phone. When anything downloads to your device, a good security application examines it and alerts you.

The basic service is usually free with freemium security software. You may subscribe to a commercial service if you wish to strengthen your security and get more features. It’s important to weigh the pros and cons of both free and paid versions in order to choose which is the best option for your needs.

3) On Your Smartwatch, Enable Bluetooth Connection Lost Notification

Connect your phone to your wristwatch and turn on the “Bluetooth connection lost” (or whatever name your device uses) notification function. It’s a feature on both Android and Apple Watches. The watch will notify the user if the phone’s Bluetooth connection is lost. As soon as your phone leaves the specified range while you are in public, the wristwatch will alert you.

The Bluetooth connectivity of a device is lost over a distance of 100 meters (328 feet). Your phone is still nearby, so it’s easy to start looking for it when you get a notification like this. So long as the gadget isn’t switched off, you can hear the phone ring. Even if the phone is turned off, you may utilize the Find My iPhone function on the iPhone or Google Find My Device to generate noise (a beep tone or ring tone) on the phone.

4) Use Caution When Downloading and Installing Apps on Your Phone

You can’t believe everything you see! When installing applications or downloading pictures, movies, files, music, email attachments, and other items from the internet, be cautious. When downloading anything from the internet, there are a few common guidelines to follow:

Don’t Download from Untrusted Websites

Before downloading any files, make sure they’ve been scanned with your antivirus and antimalware software.

Complete Your Homework

Read customer reviews and investigate the app’s publisher before installing a new or unknown application. Malicious applications are responsible for 70% of all mobile fraud.

Examine Your App Permissions

Most apps ask for access to some of the device’s core functions when they are installed, such as a camera, an email account (either personal or business), a contact list, an image gallery, or a GPS location. Take a close look at each of these features and ask yourself: Does this app really need to access this feature? Such an app would likely require access to your location if you were downloading a meal delivery app, for example. But there’s probably no need for it to demand access to your email clients, phonebooks, files, and camera, as well as your computer’s hard drive. Prevent!

Check the permissions for all of your installed mobile apps using the steps below.

Go to Settings > Privacy on your iPhone. You’ll get a list of all the features available on the device. To discover which applications, have the authorization to use that feature, click on it. From that screen, you may disable the permission.

Go to Settings > Permission Manager* on Android. You’ll get a list of the features and the applications that have authorization to access them, as well as a description of the features.

*Note: The permissions checking tab is known by different names on different Android phones. To some extent, it depends on the brand of the phone you’re using.

5) Avoid SIM Swapping

When a bad person phones your cell service provider and requests a replacement SIM card, this is known as SIM switching. When a hacker obtains access to some of your personal information (such as the last four digits of your social security number or any identification proof document) and utilizes it as part of a social engineering fraud, this unlawful SIM switching is feasible.

They can intercept all your phone conversations, SMS text messages, and potentially get access to all accounts and services related to your phone number if they’re successful in convincing your mobile service provider to move your number to another service provider.

An attacker can get your one-time password (OTP) or secret code by SMS if you’ve set up two-factor authentication (2FA) at your bank, for example. As a result, your phone won’t work, and you won’t be able to make or receive any calls from it.

Not only that, but attackers have access to all of your social media accounts (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.) in which you’ve used your phone number as a user ID! Simply click on the “lost password” links and use the links they receive via SMS text messages to reset their passwords. It’s that easy.

Set up a unique PIN or password with your mobile service provider to protect yourself from unlawful SIM swapping or number transfer. To access or make changes to your mobile account (including number/account transfer to other devices), you’ll need a private number that only you know.

To add an additional degree of protection, you may utilize applications like Google Authenticator, Authy, or Google’s code-less authentication approach. When someone tries to log in from a new device, Apple’s two-step verification function can send an OTP to a registered device (rather than the phone number). This provides an additional layer of MFA security to your device that does not rely on SMS messages.

A new device can’t be activated until the OTP is provided, which iOS will only give your (registered) device or another phone number that is linked/connected to your primary phone number, even if a replacement SIM card is used. App-specific passwords also allow you to prevent others from accessing your apps without those credentials.

6) Always Update Your Operating System And Other Software

Regular updates and patching will keep your mobile device’s operating system and apps as safe as possible. In other words, you should install all of your most recent patches and software upgrades as soon as they’re ready to go.

Some individuals believe that software upgrades are solely used to improve the look and functionality of the software. It’s not necessary to upgrade if you’re satisfied with the appearance and functionality of your OS or applications. Updates have a major influence on-device security, which these consumers are unaware of.

A number of updates are made available by the companies that make their products to repair bugs and patch security vulnerabilities in the software. Unpatched software is continuously on the lookout for devices that might be exploited by hackers. As a result, you should install any updates as soon as they become available.

7) Don’t Use Public Wi-Fi

Data from connected devices can be eavesdropped on by hackers who take advantage of unsecured connections to intercept transmissions. MitM attacks are a kind of this. For our second advice on Mobile Security Tips to safeguard your phone from hackers, we recommend that you avoid using public Wi-Fi: (in airports, malls, hotels, shops, cafes, etc.). Instead, use data from a cellular network.

When using a mobile hotspot, make sure its password is secured to keep it safe. When you don’t have an excess of mobile data, what happens? Then wait till you can utilize a secure connection to perform your professional work or access websites where you need to give any confidential or sensitive information.

By using a virtual private network (VPN) if you must use public Wi-Fi, you can decrease your chance of infection (VPN). They can select from a wide range of free or low-cost virtual private network (VPN) services. VPNs have the advantage of passing online traffic over a private encrypted channel, which is one of the numerous benefits they give. As a result, even if someone breaks your internet connection and intercepts your communication, they won’t be able to read, interpret, or alter anything because of the VPN’s encryption feature. All you have to do is download the VPN software and activate it when utilizing public Wi-Fi. It’s really easy to use.

7 Mobile Security Tips to Keep Your Phone Safe

Stay Connected!